


I don't know what I'm doing, Kaiba.

by BitterPixieBro



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: AU Verse, Honda still knows the dweebs theyre just not in the same country, M/M, Stubbornshipping, im a slut for this pairing i stg, im sorry for the shit talking on nice guys in the first chapter but im not, mokuba is a trans girl in all my shit, otp, romantic ship, sex stuff will happen at a later date, slowburn, slowburn romance, the quality increases i just got carried away w/ trash talk, this is going to be many many chapters i have a good idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-03-22 11:09:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13762860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterPixieBro/pseuds/BitterPixieBro
Summary: Slowburn Stubbornship fic that takes place in an AU where Kaiba was born in America and Honda moved there for High School starting Freshman year rather than Sophomore despite the fact that Japanese HS starts in 10th grade. Also, this starts Senior year. There will be a lot. Nowhere near completion, sorry.





	1. End all Nice Guys, Honda.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Me](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Me), [Myself](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myself/gifts).



> I'm not sorry for shit said about "Nice Guys" in this chapter, but I'm sorry if you think it's a waste of time bc this is important content.

“What’s his fucking damage anyway?”

These questions weren’t uncommon in this classroom. A good number of the male students held some form of distaste for Kaiba Seto. Jealousy played a large role in that. To them, he was a foreigner, despite the fact that he had been born and raised here as any of them had. He didn’t believe this hatred had anything to do with his race, and it didn’t. This hatred stemmed from whatever sense of entitlement, and whatever privilege they believed him to have. His classmates didn’t realise this, but Kaiba had worked to get where he was. He had worked for everything, he had suffered, he had cried, and he had bled. It wasn’t as though they could have known this. His past wasn’t something he delved into. Ever. It was his burden, and his burden only. No one else needed to know the details of his sob story. He didn’t care if they continued on believing his was raised in a luxurious world, one with now worries or troubles. He didn’t care if they believed he had been handed everything he had now for little to nothing. For the sake of his peace of mind, he’d act as though he still had that silver spoon in his mouth, despite the fact he’d never held one.

“He’s such a prick.”

Maybe so, but no one else was any better.

Unable to face the truth behind their shortcomings, these boys blamed all their issues on anyone they possibly could. Their targets changed often enough, however, they constantly came back to Kaiba. These boys were of the “alpha” variety. They believed themselves to be of higher intellect, despite how they never bothered to apply themselves in the school setting. They claimed they were too good for school, for society. They believed the words they spat. To them, everyday was some test to their dominance. Their friends weren’t truly their friends, as they too believed themselves to be the alpha of their “pack”. They contested with one another, but still kept company in each other, as no one else would bother to have them. Arrogant, obnoxious, worthless. They were scum.

“He doesn’t even give them the time of day, why do they flock to him like that? He isn’t deserving of their attention.”

Hadn’t they stopped to consider that he wasn’t interested in that sort of thing? This was a school, he had come here to learn. He held no intentions of starting any relationships, romantic or platonic.

They didn’t care how he felt about the attention he received. They never bothered to give that thought the time of day. All they cared about was their own selfish agenda. They didn’t like to believe that their female classmates held no interest in them. Instead, they chose to blame their disinterest in him. “Ladies are always attracted to the assholes” they’d all claim, day in and day out. Without bothering to think about why that might be. They never bothered to consider anything but his wealth as a factor. Not his intelligence (because who was smarter than they were? Certainly not some peasant who allowed themself to be kept a slave of society). Not his bright future (as surely they were destined for so much more than Kaiba could ever hope to dream of). They thought themselves to be above all else.

And why couldn’t they be? Never had they been told that they’d need to work to achieve greatness. America, as a whole, taught boys that all they had to do was exist and they held position above all others. 

“They’re all just blind, if they want to hurt themselves over and over again with some squalid little boy, who cares? I’m not interested in whores who only look at a guy for money, I want a lady who can contribute to intellectual conversation.”

This particular group of boys was of the worse variety. The kind who believed a women had no right to refuse them, and to do so made them into some vile creature, ugly and uninteresting, despite how they might have been grovelling at her feet in pleas for sex mere moments before. To them, their dicks were a status symbol that any and all women should be honoured to view.

They truly were the worst of the worst.

“Dude, guys, people, uh, things, whatever the fuck you gremlins are, you realise how ridiculous you sound here, right?” Their class president of the previous three years (who now served his fourth term) was no stranger to dealing with trash. Before transferring to this school, before moving to America, he had been apart of the beautification committee in his middle school. Although, seeing as this was a school in America, he didn’t get the chance to rejoin, as for whatever reason, the students didn’t clean up after themselves.

Honda really would have preferred inanimate trash, but this would have to do.

“Excuse you, heathen, have you even bothered to learn proper English? Such slang is disgusting.”

Without realising it, the gremlin, himself, had used a slang word himself. The word “slang” was in fact slang for the term “shortened language”. They did realise this, didn’t they? No.

“Do you really think someone dependant on brawn rather than brain holds any right to speak with us?”

They seemed to be stuck in their own little world, and Honda couldn’t exactly blame them. If his life was as bleak as theirs was, he too wouldn’t want to face reality.

“I’m gonna stop you there, thanks. I need you to stop talking smack about our classmates. Everyone can hear you. You can’t go around calling guys ‘squalid’ or whatever, and you gotta know by now you can’t just go around calling our female classmates whores, that ain’t cool.” He didn’t feel the need to yell, at least not yet. If they kept it up, he might get to raising his voice. 

Usually, they gave up on these antics once they realised Honda was getting angry. He was a big guy. Tough. He was their class president, however, he was on the soccer team (despite how his looks would suggest football).

“If the title is fitting, I don’t see why we should be forced to censor our opinions.”

“Especially considering the government will be enforcing just the same once we’ve graduated into adulthood.”

He didn’t even know who was saying what by this point. They shared a hivemind, collectively, every one of their kind, all across the globe. They even seemed to share the same voice. He found literally no difference in any of them.

“Well, one: based on your.., everything you won't be graduating anything anytime soon, and two: if you want to continue giving your uncensored opinion, I have no problem reporting you to the nearest teacher. I hope you don’t mind a trip to the detention hall, fam.”

They looked between themselves. How they didn’t go blind from the buildup of oils on their skin was sort of amazing.

“You jest, don’t you? Wh-”

Honda gave a heavy and “untimely” sigh. He had meant for it to be this way. He wasn’t up for listening to their over-inflated egos as they lost air.

“Hasn’t your mother taught you any manners?”

“Hasn’t yours taught you how to be a decent human being for even a second in your entire lifespan? Seriously. If you don’t knock off the bullying, I’m not just gonna sit by and listen. Cheesy as it is, we’re all in this together, it isn’t cool to talk shit. That sort of thing can upset someone, we don’t need to start beef.” He saw them getting ready to come up with another of their obnoxious responses. He wasn’t about to give them the chance. “Like seriously, what has Kaiba ever done to you, or anyone for that matter? You’ve never looked him in the eye, let alone held a conversation with him. He’s literally the least problematic person here. And I’m tellin’ you now, those girls aren’t ignoring your advances because they like assholes, they’re ignoring you because you are the assholes. Maybe like, take the time to think for two seconds instead of spouting off bullshit to cover your insecurities. If I hear you harassing Kaiba or those girls again, I’m getting the teachers involved, you got it? Good. I’m not warning you again.”

He waited absolutely no longer than that. A second dawdling was a second they could have taken to spit out some bullshit encased response to defend their right to piss everyone else off.

He hated those kind of guys.

He hadn’t wanted to call them out like that. 

He had always waited to get them alone before issuing a warning, as he did with everyone. Most people decided to stop, at least while he was around. However, these weasels weren’t affected. The moment they got back into class, they went back to their old habits. It was as if this was the only way they knew how to socialise. It probably was. 

He hoped that dragging them in the middle of class would cause an actual change this time. Maybe the threat to their pride (or honour or whatever the fuck these guys called it) would be enough to scare them straight, at least for a little while. 

Or maybe they’d talk shit about him instead? He was fine with that. He gave zero shits about them, or their opinions, or their existence. They could say whatever they wanted about him. He’d be fine. They had better back off the rest of their classmates though.

Honda didn’t even really get why anyone would have beef with Kaiba. The guy had literally never done anything wrong in his life as far as anyone was aware. Sure he was famous and most of those guys had something bad going on, but all he had ever seen about Kaiba in the media was praise from every news source aside from Fox, and no one important listened to Fox News anyway.

Who would have shit to say? Kaiba was the role model of just about every child he’d ever met. Who could blame them though? Kaiba had opened an amusement park, several actually. Orphans, or otherwise less well off children were able to get in for free. That was an incredible thing.

These girls hadn’t done anything wrong either. They had “friendzoned” these guys sure, despite the fact that they didn’t even want to be friends with them. However, as human beings and not inanimate anime girl body pillows, tiddy pads, or blow up dolls, they did hold the right to refuse whoever the fuck they wanted. They themselves held as much right to deny these gremlins as they did to fawn over actual decent guys.

Honda might have to end some lives if he heard anyone talking shit like that again.

That sort of behaviour wasn’t appropriate for a school environment.

No one he had just got through defending gave him any praise. To be expected. It was dumb to do so in front of these guys. They’d only have more shit to talk by next period. Ignore them, and they might keep quiet, but not always.


	2. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next time, Honda.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another school day in Honda's eyes. He wonders about a book, and a lot of other bullshit. Mostly abt why tf the American school system sucks so much ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consider sending me a commission, or a ko-fi if you like my work!

“Hiroto!” Honda didn’t know who was using his given name so freely, but he did know that he hadn’t given them the permission to do so. It was to be expected though. This was a different culture, it was normal for them to be so personal. He just wished that while he respected theirs, they would respect his boundaries. 

He took his attention from his classwork. They had been given free time to catch up on other classes, and he had planned to use it. He had. He wouldn’t or couldn’t ignore any of his classmates. He wanted to be a friend to all. It was how he had gotten re-elected each year as their class president.

The girl who had called him was one obviously one of his classmates. Marina, or at least he thought that was her name. He was a little iffy on the details. He didn’t know her that well. Or anyone. He came here for school, he was very serious about learning. “Please refer to me as Honda.” He wasn’t mad at her, he knew she didn’t really realise how rude it was in his eyes to use anything else.

“Anyway, a couple of us were trying to get together after school to hang, do you wanna join?” An unsolicited invitation to something he didn’t want to attend and didn’t have time for, on top of that she completely brushed off his request.

“I’m busy.” He didn’t really get why anyone would ask him to hang out. They may have been classmates for the previous three years, but he had never really taken the time to get to know any of them. His friends were all back home, where he’d be returning after he graduated. It was nice to experience a different culture, but he didn’t want to stick around. He missed home. He missed his friends, and he missed his parents. Although it had been cool to stay with his sister all this time. He’d let her take America for now.

“You’re always busy. Why don’t you take a break and let us thank you for once.” Insistent. He had known most Americans, especially in this school, to have issues taking “no” for an answer. They liked getting what they wanted, which wasn’t a bad thing, they just needed to learn when to quit. There was a reason that he never joined anyone.

“You don’t have anything to thank me for, so don’t worry about it.”

She huffed. “You don’t pull off the lone wolf thing, you know. That’s anyone’s thing but yours.” Ouch. Ouch, wow. That wasn’t what he was going for. He just preferred to keep his grades up, and not fail. “What are you busy with?”

“Study group. We have a test coming up.” They always had tests coming up. American schools based education off of so many tests. At least one every week, sometimes two for the same subject. It was bad, but Americans considered it superior for whatever reason. He only came out here because he had more to learn than the content in school. He could learn this anywhere, and probably better.

“Oh, yeah. I guess. Maybe we can join you?” Was she really pushing that far? Usually people went running the moment they heard the word study. “I need help in my calculus class, you can help right?” 

He was starting to get the feeling that this was her plan all along. Some people were shady like that. If she had wanted help with her class, all she had to do was ask him straight up. If she was taking the time and effort to seek help outside of class, he was more than happy to show her what she wanted to know.

“Do your friends need help too?” He would be surprised if she said no.

“... They probably do, I can check with them.” Playing coy. Of course. No one liked admitting to any form of manipulation. His classmates were tiring. Thank him, right. She had never meant that. Only use him. He was fine with that. He liked helping, it made him feel useful, to anyone. He liked feeling useful.

“Yeah, alright. You can come along, but like, you cause trouble you’ll have to leave. This is a serious group.” A few, very few people, in their class that got together to study everyday after school. Grades were important. Most of his classmates were aiming for law or medical school. Honda needed business and engineering. He was supposed to inherit his father’s garage, but only because his sister had refused and moved out here. He wasn’t sure if he’d be taking college courses here in the U.S. or back home. The debt seemed like a bitch to him, but he wasn’t sure how easily he’d get into a school back home.

“Great, thank, I’ll meet you after class.” After class sounded good, he wanted to finish up with his work before school ended, then he could take more time to himself. Maybe he could catch Jounouchi or Yugi before they went to class themselves. He hated timezones.

“Alright, later.” Back to work. Work was important.

Class wasn’t as long as he would have liked, and time went by much quicker when he wasn’t taking notes, so he didn’t have enough time to finish what he was working on. He might have to take some time during their study group just to get the last bit of it done. He couldn’t understand how American schools could shovel these mountains of work on their students and expect them to get everything done on time while also having a social life and/or working a parttime job. No wonder most of his classmates were making only C level grades. He was lucky enough that he didn’t need to get a job to pay for school, and unlucky enough that he rarely had time to talk to his friends without the burden of school work. 

He took the classmates that had approached him to the library where his group always met up to study.

He didn’t understand how anyone got through school without the dedication these guys had, although most of them had adapted to think inside the box at all times because that was what the American education system asked of its students, and in no way were they ready to face the real world. They didn’t even understand the content they were taught, the only memorised it, spat off answers from memory rather than actual understanding of the subject. Memories were quick to be forgotten, whereas if they took the time to understand what they were taught, it would be a lot more difficult to forget. Then, they didn’t have time, fifty standardised tests and endless piles of homework made sure of that.

Aside from the few he had brought along with him, there were more there than usual. They were covering math topics. Math days were the worst. Math was difficult for many of his classmates. 

Sitting apart from the group, in the back of the library, was Kaiba. He was reading some book. Honda didn’t know what it was, he’d been trying to guess that since freshman year. He wasn’t sure if it was the same book, or if Kaiba just moved that same black cover to every new book he picked up. Was he so keen on hiding the content he consumed?

Guess he’d have to be. He was a famous kinda guy. If his bookly interests were anything short of perfect (which was a paradox in and of itself as there was no such thing as universal perfect anything), there might be an outcry and his business could suffer. Although it would take a petty kinda bitch to stop buying Kaiba Corp products just because Kaiba might have been reading some Edgar Allan Poe, or Harry Potter type shit. Honda wouldn’t judge, he just wanted in on this top priority secret Kaiba was keeping.

Whatever.

He sat himself down at his group. He came here to study and learn some things himself, however, he was bombarded with questions. Everyone else here was more concerned about themselves, which was understandable.

“Hey, how do I do this?  
“What’s X in this formula?”  
“How the fuck is this even applied?”  
“I’m no expert, but I think that’s biology.”

This was ridiculous. 

Answering questions only brought on more, and more from those. He may be stuck longer in this group than he wanted to be. When could he go home?

“Wait, wait, Honda, I know you’re about to go, but like, could you show me how to do this real quick?”

He had been there helping all of them for hours. He hadn’t learned a thing and constantly repeating the same information over and over again in simpler and simpler terms was actually confusing him more on what he needed to be doing. He was getting dumber trying to teach these kids.

Shit.

“Yeah, that’s fine. It shouldn’t take long.”

It took 45 minutes. 

He wished he had it in him to start filtering who he allowed to join his study group, however, he just couldn’t. He liked helping people. If they came to him asking for help, they’d get it. He was a bit of a doormat. He didn’t want to make or leave anyone feeling lesser. This was his own problem. He could never blame them for it.

At least they were kind enough to thank him for it. 

No task was without thanks.

That was a lie, most tasks were done without thanks or praise, he just liked to ignore those instances.

Kaiba was long gone by the time he left the library. It was too bad. He didn’t get to ask about that book. Maybe next time.

By the time Honda got home, it was growing dark out. Winter months did that. Nighttime came early. His brother-in-law had already made dinner for them. He didn’t have anytime to himself then. So much for talking with his friends. That was fine. Maybe tomorrow. 

It was always: Maybe next time, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next month. Always a maybe. 

He needed something sure for once.


	3. If you know what's good for you, you'll stop, Honda.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaiba is not happy with anyone right now, but Honda is only making things worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review, I'd kill a man for one, or two, or several. Thanks.

Long days were common for Kaiba Seto. He hardly had a moment to breathe with the mountains of school work paired with his job. He adored learning and bettering himself, however, schools didn’t offer that for him, instead they quickly became a waste of time. Seven hours daily spent not working on things that actually mattered. The only reason he attended school was court order. If he wanted to keep his inheritance and his brother, he would have to graduate school. Kaiba was far from his own guardian, and he definitely wasn’t his sisters, but apparently if he was to drop out it would only reflect badly on their adoptive father, a man Kaiba kept on his payroll.

For whatever reason, a GED was entirely out of the question despite the fact that it could very easily work as a High School Diploma in any case. He needed to graduate already so he could take up studies that would actually matter to him and his job. 

He planned on college. If Kaiba Corp floundered, he’d need a backup and a degree would help. So long as he could pay for it, he should be going.

The teacher droned on an unimportant lesson about history. These assignments went too far in depth, no one needed to know this much. Where would it be applied? In what world would he need to know the name of some U.S. General who did the bare minimum during some war 200 years ago? It was doubtful any trivia game would ever mention him. The only time this information was necessary was in this class. It would never be used outside these walls and it would be forgotten within a week. Why should he waste his time?

“Mr. Kaiba.” 

So the teacher had finally noticed? How shocking. It hadn’t taken him as long as it usually did.

“Put the book down and pay attention, unless you’d rather fail.” 

That was a funny concept. Kaiba, failing a class? Never. His grades were perfect. Sure he was strapped for time and homework wasn’t helping, but he knew how to use Google, thanks. For tests. He had mastered memorisation. That was really all these schools asked of their students. Comprehension wasn’t necessary. History was the easiest subject they offered. 

He rolled his eyes, placed his bookmark over the time he had been reading and closed the book.

“You have my full attention.” He spoke sarcastically, rested his cheek in his hand as he waited for the teacher to continue.

He absorbed only the necessary knowledge, blocked out the words spoken when their teacher went off on a ten minute long “fun fact” about the subject at hand. Most of what was spoken wasn’t even relevant, nor would it be used on the test. 

The bell rang at the end of the period, and Kaiba was the first to get packed up. He left long before most of his classmates did, quick enough that he hadn’t given the teacher time to hold him back after the bell. He had a free period, one just before lunch. Those were possibly the best. An entire hour and a half dedicated to whatever he wanted. 

While he’d like to be reading, he knew it would serve him better to get ahead on the work which had already been assigned to him that day. He still had three classes after his lunch period. He visited those teachers and requested the homework the the day. Not all classes would assign something, but it was better to get a leg up for the day, so he wouldn’t have to worry about doing the work when he got home. 

Eight classes in a day, each 45 minutes, five different assignments meant to take 10 - 20 minutes each. Kaiba got most of them done during his free period, and worked for a good chunk of his lunch to finish the rest. Leaving 30 minutes to eat and anything else he might be able to do with that period. He wasn’t a quick eater, at all. 30 minutes would come to pass and even without speaking he’d just barely finish his meal. 

He was lucky he had few friends, otherwise he may not have been able to eat at all. 

He saw one of his classmates wasting his entire lunch just to help other students with their work. When else was he supposed to eat? Most teachers wouldn’t allow food within ten feet of their classrooms. Kaiba didn’t think to consider that Honda Hiroto was every teacher’s favourite student, and he was on a sports team? They wouldn’t stop him from eating if he asked.

Sixth period was obnoxious. Students were still riled up with energy from lunch, and to make matters worse, the kid behind him was taking his lunch now.

Kaiba kept quiet. He always did. He didn’t need to involve himself with the issue, just ignore it and get through it. The day would be over soon, just two more classes then work. After that he could get home and sleep. Then it would start over again. 

So long as he didn’t involve himself, others would keep their distance, and that was all he needed to focus on.

The kid behind him was chewing loudly.

Writing loudly.

He wasn’t talking, thank god, but everything else he was doing was absolutely unbearable. 

He felt a foot rest on the leg of his chair. 

He was sick of this.

Sixth period was the worst. 

Something hit him in the back of the head, his classmates chorused in “OH”s and shock, fell silent as they waited for a reaction, and went back to whatever they were doing when they realised none was coming.

Forget chewing loudly, the guy behind him was drinking loudly too.

Kaiba had enough.

He turned around.

“Stop.” His tone was strict, his command firm. He wasn’t going to be happy if he was ignored.

Honda looked a little surprised. He’d never even really heard this guy’s voice before, it was a little frightening.

“Stop what?” He wished he knew, otherwise he’d have listened.


	4. How do you do it, Honda?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Kaiba chapter. Slightly shorter than the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pls review k thnx bye.

“Stop what?”

Kaiba could not believe what he was hearing. How could this guy have no clue what he was doing? Every time he slapped his lips together, Kaiba just wanted to rip them off. 

“Stop eating so loudly.” He could feel the venom in his own words. He felt as though all this pent up rage was going to kill him, or take over and kill Honda. Preferably both. Both was good.

“Oh, uh, sorry.” He still didn’t really seem to get it. 

Kaiba would give him the benefit of the doubt.For now. If he started up again, he was going to die. That was that. He turned back around without another word. Honda could figure out how to handle eating like a normal human being himself. Kaiba wasn’t going to hold his hand.

Slowly, it started again. 

It was barely noticeable at first, the occasional crunch. Honda had slowed down his eating in attempts to silence himself, but he clearly had no clue that this only made the sounds worse as time progressed. Kaiba was sick. He felt like ripping his own ears off. The sound was too much. 

The teacher wasn’t teaching and it was too loud in here. 

Kaiba leaned over to get his headphones. He made sure to make eye contact with Honda as he put them on. Let him know that he was the cause of this. Kaiba wasn’t going to sit there and listen to his tongue slosh food around, or literally any of the other noises his mouth was making. It was disgusting, and it was obnoxious. Kaiba needed the break. Sixth period would be over soon. He wouldn’t have to sit there for very much longer. 

Endure.

The period finished out, and while Kaiba hadn’t heard the bell, watching his other classmates throw their things together in a hurry to get out was more than enough of a hint to know they were headed for seventh. Seventh would be easier. A language class. Kaiba didn’t need to learn another language, he already spoke multiple, he merely needed the credit to graduate on the “preferred” plan, although he could easily go for an easier route and graduate immediately, as he held all of the credits he’d need for that. A university would be easier to find with the language credits, because apparently he’d need to go to a community college first without it. The American system was all kinds of weird.

He was taking an advanced course on Mandarin. The teacher wasn’t located in state, so the class had to be taken online. Not that this really mattered for Kaiba. He spoke the language easily. It was his third language, English being his first, and Japanese his second. He didn’t have any issues getting his assignments for the day done, and no homework assigned. More free time. With cellular signal, he took this free time to message Isono and ask for updates from work. He had nothing to do for school and so long as work was stable he’d read. 

Isono was good at keeping things stable for him. The man worked around the clock and never once complained. Kaiba respected that, and trusted Isono because of it.

A chunk of time just for reading, and one more class after. That was all he needed.

Life was exhausting. He didn’t know how so many people put up with it. If he had the choice, he would quit his job, quit school, and live in the forest with the people he loved and nothing more. 

He didn’t understand why anyone would put so much focus on school if they were given the choice. Why ignore life for work?

How did they do it? 

He knew other fellow classmates, one in particular, who tossed their social lives out the window by their own choice just for the sake of grades. 

How could they stand it? Why did they allow these letters to define their worth? The system was messy and broken, yet they were fine with that.

How did they manage to keep themselves sane while others floundered and eventually gave in? So many students stopped trying so long ago. How was Kaiba not one of them? He already wanted to quit, he had for years now. He loved learning, but this wasn’t learning, this wasn’t teaching him anything. 

High school was nothing but a waste of his time, a waste of everyone’s time. It offered nothing. The system needed to be fixed.

He wanted to go home.

He had work.


	5. Maybe think before acting, Honda.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honda, for the life of him cannot fathom why Kaiba is giving him all these dirty looks. This may lead to his death, we'll see.

It wasn’t as though Honda was avoiding Kaiba. He just did not enjoy the looks he had been getting from him for the past handful of days. Clearly he had done something wrong. So while he didn’t go out of his way to avoid being close to the guy, he was working on avoiding eye contact. 

Kaiba hadn’t said anything to him outright, so he must have assumed that Honda already knew what he’d done. He had absolutely no clue. He’d never really seen Kaiba angry at anyone before. Most of his issues with Honda seemed to come up during sixth period. That was an even bigger question. Sixth was nine times out of ten just a free study period because their teacher was too lazy. He didn’t know what problem Kaiba could have had with Honda during that period. 

Honda tended to study to himself or finish up whatever assignments he could as early as he could. Free time was important to him. Napping was important to him.

Maybe he needed help? Or, did he want someone to talk to? Everyone else talked during sixth. Kaiba didn’t seem to have many friends, and the other students tended to avoid him. 

A few too many failed attempts at getting close would do that. 

However, they were older now. Maybe Kaiba regretted chasing everyone away? It must be lonely, being alone.

He somehow put the idea into his head that Kaiba only wanted a friend to waste the down time with.

He felt sorry for the guy. He knew how it was, making a mistake like that which couldn’t be taken back. Even if he had wanted to be left alone at the time, that wouldn’t last forever. No one could handle being alone all the time. That was why Honda at the least kept good ties with his fellow classmates. They liked him well enough, maybe not enough to see him outside of school, but that wasn’t too far off. Give it time and effort, and he could have plenty of good friends here.

He had called up his mother the night before, asked her for some help. She knew how to handle everything. He trusted her with his life. However, all of her solutions focused on food gifts, mainly sweets. She had plenty of recipes that she wanted him to try out. They way to anyone’s heart was through their stomach, man or woman.

He didn’t get much of a chance to speak with Kaiba during the day. Too many classmates hounding him for help and advice. He was glad to be of use, but felt terrible for completely ignoring the one person who might need his company, or any company, the most. He wasn’t the kind of guy who knew how to say no. 

They day stretched on.

Even through lunch he was tossed from group to group.

Once he finished with one, he’d hear a: “Oh, Honda, you free? I need your help on this assignment.” or a: “Hey Hiroto, how does this function work?” to which he would promptly correct them for the misuse of his given name, and give his help.

He was an approachable guy, and he was smart. Of course he would be the first person they asked. Others demanded something in return for their aid, Honda did this in the spirit of helping others. 

At least he knew he’d have sixth for Kaiba.

The students in that class ignored any and all suggestions of studying or preparing for just about anything. They viewed the class as too easy and hadn’t thought to get ahead on their other subjects. 

Kaiba was there early, already in his seat, taking notes, doing whatever it was he did during this time of the day. Honda didn’t know much about him, or anyone else. He didn’t have any personal connection, although that was about to change, maybe.

Honda slid into his seat behind Kaiba. He could see the guy’s posture stiffen up. He was probably just nervous. Kaiba didn’t socialise much, it was likely that he didn’t have a clue on how to strike up a conversation. All those looks must have been an attempt to get Honda to say the first word.

He didn’t mind that so much. Honda was an outgoing guy, and he did like to converse with his peers.

He pulled a tupperware full of cookies which he had made with his brother-in-law, Jun ho, the previous night. They hadn’t been able to make them from scratch due to the short notice, but Honda had added some extra chocolate so they wouldn’t taste too much like the shit you just pop in the oven, even though they were.

Kaiba was getting ready to go through his own bag now, and Honda could not have that happening, he knew what Kaiba was about to get, and this would only make it harder for them to talk. It was already hard enough to hear in here, he didn’t need Kaiba blocking off his ears too.

“Wait, Kaiba.”

Hesitation. 

Kaiba turned his head, but didn’t say anything in response. Honda at least knew he had his attention.

“I… uh, I brought these for you.” Now he was feeling a little nervous. Those eyes just seemed to be screaming murder. He gestured toward the tin he’d just taken out.

There was a moment, one that didn’t last long, but one that Honda took notice of. A moment where Kaiba’s mind seemed to lag. Just a moment, barely a second. 

“Why?” Nothing more, nothing less. Honda didn’t get much from that. He couldn’t tell what emotions Kaiba might have been feeling.

Honda took the lid off for Kaiba, he didn’t even think to consider that maybe Kaiba would get in trouble for eating in class. Honda never did.

“It’s a gift, who doesn’t like cookies?” Nothing came from Kaiba, so Honda was forced to continue on. “I thought we could be friends?”

He was sure this wasn’t a mistake.


	6. Treat yo'self, Kaiba.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they way to a mans heart is thru his stomach, Honmom was right the whole time.

This had to be a mistake.

Kaiba did not want them to be friends. He didn’t want friends. This was a joke, wasn’t it? Then again, he had never known Honda to play cruel tricks like this. Was he honestly genuinely looking to be friends with him? He must have hit his head if he thought he would ever actually get the chance.

However, he did have an affinity for sweets, and although he had a very large part of himself telling him to deny this offer at all costs, he couldn’t quite bring himself to say no- he couldn’t quite remember the last time he had been able to eat anything that wasn’t store bought and crunchy. He preferred soft, gooier sweets, nuget was absolutely lovely and by far his favourite. He was sure that the cookies were no longer warm, but they wouldn’t have completely hardened, right? 

Maybe it was wishful thinking that Honda knew anything about making baked goods, maybe it wasn’t. He seemed to be a strange guy, and this skill did fit oddly into his character. Kaiba couldn’t help but think he strongly resembled a mother in the way he behaved toward their other classmates. Always self sacrificial, running himself thin, defending the students, helping them at any cost, like a mother. It wasn’t like Kaiba was blind to the things that went on here, he was a silent observer- this was a perk of refraining from socialisation, he knew who everyone was in one way or another. Even if he didn’t know the name, he knew the face, and he knew the person behind it as well.

Honda never seemed the type to cause any harm toward those who hadn’t asked for it through their actions, and none of his harm was particularly cruel and never took the form of a prank, the worst he’d done was reprimand fellow students for their misdeeds, and really did that even qualify as harm? He was going out of his way to set them down a better path, even if they refused to listen to him, even if they decided he was irrational or wrong. He wouldn’t have set out to harm Kaiba in any way.

He wasn’t particularly extroverted either, his club activities and president status aside, he only ever associated with those who approached him first. He never offered help to those who didn’t ask for it, never made friends, never joined others after school. He seemed to prefer keeping to himself. So this action was still questionable.

Was he genuinely wanting to be Kaiba’s friend, or was he concerned about his behaviour? If Honda thought for a moment that the bullies, or rather losers, bothered him any bit he was sorely mistaken. He wasn’t here to make friends, he was here to get his diploma and get out. 

However, for someone who didn’t want to make change in his life, he complained a lot about the invariability of his daily schedules. He didn’t have to make friends with Honda, but maybe humouring him for now wouldn’t do any harm. This was all his attempts to reason why it was alright for him to accept the offering of Honda’s baked goods, of course.

This thought process had taken him a moment, and surely the dragging on of silence was only making Honda nervous, most people did fear conversation with him and although Kaiba couldn’t imagine Honda fearing any socialization, he didn’t wish to make him uncomfortable while he was making such a gesture.

“Thank you.” He had nothing more to say. Honda was wrong about them being friends, as it was impossible for Kaiba to keep anyone close to himself, but the offering was acceptable and appreciated. 

At his acceptance, a wide grin broke loose on Honda’s face as his insecurities about this lifted. He had said “thank you” not “no thank you” so that meant Kaiba wasn’t upset, and maybe Honda had been right, and he had wanted company all this time. It wasn’t Kaiba’s fault he had a resting bitch face and didn’t know how to open up to others now that he had scared them all off- Honda knew that, he was going to make Kaiba his friend, that was for goddamn sure. “Yea, no problem, bro. I didn’t have time to make them from scratch- but next time, I promise.” 

The words “from scratch” insinuated that Kaiba had been right about Honda’s baking skills, and this made him all the more glad he had accepted the offer. Even if it had been made from the box, so long as it was made by someone who knew what they were doing, they would taste all that much better.

He wanted to say he’d hold Honda to that promise, but he knew he wouldn’t. Instead he gave only a nod. He didn’t want to eat in class for fear of getting into trouble, and also dirtying himself with crumbs, but he felt that this one time, he’d indulge himself. He deserved it, he was so worn down.


	7. Stop it, get some help, Honda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Honda's trying to make a friend and Kaiba doesn't give a shit unless sweets are involved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya boi got a job right after the last update lmao ignore the pause

Honda’s promise of next time hadn’t been a lie, he had made a next time, and again a time after that. The next two days he had brought something in for Kaiba, no matter how small it might have been. 

On the first of the following days he had brought a fruit salad. Natural sweeteners, and something which was healthier than the previous days offering. This wasn’t a surprise coming from someone who came in every day with a perfectly balanced lunch.   
He had offered it again in sixth, as he had the previous day. This wasn’t their only class together, but it was the class which they sat closest to one another, and again the closest class to their lunch period- and the period where Honda ate his. 

The tapping on Kaiba’s shoulder was light and easily noticeable. Kaiba was very aware of his environment here, even with so much always going on, he always had been. He had heard Honda shifting in his seat before he had felt those fingers on his shoulder.

He hadn’t been expecting another interruption that day, but since he had enjoyed the treats from the day before, Kaiba chose not to ignore him. He turned to face Honda, wordless only for a short moment. “Yes?”

“How do you like fruit?” Honda gestured toward the small tupperware bowl sitting on his desk. The contents were incredibly red and Kaiba could only guess as to why/. 

“Are there cherries in that?” 

Honda’s face lit up then, clearly with excitement. He assumed that this must mean Kaiba enjoyed cherries specifically- which would mean he’d like this. “Yeah, it’s the main ingredient I used.”

Not a second had passed before Kaiba derisively replied, “I’m allergic.”

He didn’t waste any more time with Honda. There was nothing to be gained that day and his studies, or lack thereof were more important.

The following day Kaiba found his attention drawn to Honda Hiroto once more. He seemed happier than he had the day before, then again, Kaiba has suspicion that this chipper exterior was part of a lie. 

“You’re not allergic to anything else are you?” 

His question was serious, but Kaiba didn’t intend to take it that way. He took a glance down to what Honda had on his desk- assuming he would have brought something again for that day, however he decided he did like what was there and he didn’t want to accidentally ruin his chances for that.

“Only this class.”

Honda faked a laugh, clearly faked it. There was no genuine humour anywhere in his face, he was too easy to read as he was. Kaiba hadn’t intended to be funny either way. He legitimately hated this class, it was his least favourite. He hated everything here.

“So caramel is good?” 

Kaiba nodded, but offered nothing more, not so much as a smile.

“Okay, cool.. So, I have some of that- you’ll take some?” 

Kaiba took a moment to pretend as though he hadn’t already considered this just moments before Honda had offered. He then nodded once more. “That should be fine.”

“Dope.”


	8. Satire is what the kids are into these days, right Honda?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more has happened what a shock they arent kissing yet

By seventh period Kaiba found himself wondering just what Honda would bring for their next school day. He still was not at all interested in becoming friends with their student body president and doubted that he ever would be. He didn’t like keeping up with superficial relationships and most who had wanted to be his friends were people he didn’t enjoy being around. Considering those who kept Honda around, maybe he felt similar in that regard. Kaiba wasn’t sure if he’d ever heard Honda Hiroto call any of their classmates his friends. Of all the reasons Kaiba had considered for Honda’s sudden interest in him, he hadn’t thought that maybe he was lonely, or tired of fakes. 

Some really did seem to be using Honda for his tutoring help. Most were disrespectful or forgetful with the already low standards that Honda seemed to have- there was no care for his culture or comfort level. Maybe Honda had seen how disinterested Kaiba had been, or hadn’t been afraid to complain about him to his face, and had seen that as an opportunity to befriend someone who clearly had no intentions of using him. 

Kaiba did not know he was wrong about this, but his own train of thought did boost his ego for the remainder of the school day, and possibly week. He liked the thought that despite not wanting friends that he would in some way be a better friend to keep than any one of his classmates. Really, he was a prize- one Honda would not be winning, but he would still think of himself in this manner. 

As expected, Honda did come the next day with more treats for Kaiba. He really was trying, and the offer of brownies was definitely not something Kaiba would be turning down- especially if he had to deal with Honda anyway. 

After he accepted, Honda didn’t miss a beat- he didn’t want to give Kaiba time to turn back around before he could start up a conversation.

“So what do you like to do for fun?” 

However much Kaiba did not like socialisation, he knew it would be rude of him to accept this gift and give nothing in return, and ignoring the question would likely bring an end to Honda’s generosity. He did hesitate however, as he didn’t have much free time, and as consequence very few hobbies. 

“I read, photography occasionally… not much else.”

As someone who did neither of those things, Honda didn’t know how to answer and froze while he thought. Kaiba very easily took notice of this hiccup and used it as his escape. Turning around didn’t save him from Honda’s response.

“Yea, uh… what kind of books?”

It was the same question he had heard time and time again from others who also did not read as often. It wasn’t very thoughtful and clearly showed that Honda had very little interest in actually knowing.

“Satirical.”

There was a brief pause, where Kaiba had expected Honda to speak and Honda had expected otherwise. Honda was by no means a dumbass, but he clearly hadn’t been aware that too many books of this genre existed. 

Kaiba, for once, helped him out.

“Animal Farm, A Modest Proposal- even The Princess Bride before the abridgement.”

Honda nodded, although Kaiba couldn’t see that. He hadn’t bothered turning back around just yet and doubted that he would need to. Honda clearly had little to say- he should have talked about himself instead, at least then, while boring Kaiba, he could go one for however long he would have liked.

“Any recommendations?” 

Somehow, Kaiba doubted that Honda would be taking up any hobbies just because Kaiba had suggested it.

“Considering the political climate and the leader of these ‘free states’ 1984 written by George Orwell.” Kaiba, clearly knowing that it wouldn’t be read, was pulling the most common referenced title out of his ass. If Honda wanted to fake it, he could very easily google a book synopsis offline and try to talk himself up with it. 

Kaiba would, of course, never fall for it.

Honda didn’t ask any more questions, allowed Kaiba to get back to whatever he had been doing, or whatever he had wanted to be doing, and focused on eating his lunch. He figured that he could at least buy the audio book and listen to it while he worked out- or did literally anything where he wouldn’t need his ears. He knew that Kaiba needed a friend, and Honda wanted to help him, but he couldn’t be that friend for him if he never had anything they could talk about. 

Somehow he doubted that Kaiba wanted to talk cars and baking with him- and Honda was not about to bring up Kaiba’s work. God knew he had to talk about that enough already.

He didn’t mind going the extra mile so long as it didn’t threaten his grades or his future.

**Author's Note:**

> commission me thnx.


End file.
